My friend Nick and I went on a trip to Europe in 2022 after graduating college.

Planning phase:

We weren’t sure of where exactly we wanted to go to at the start. We had a few ideas and eventually built out a trip from there. We knew we wanted to go to Munich for sure, liked the idea of Amsterdam, then floated the ideas of Brussels, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Frankfurt, Nijmegen, and a few others. We settled on the following plan:

• Munich, Germany (6/9-6/12)
• Frankfurt (6/12-6/14)
• Brussels (6/14-6/17)
• Amsterdam (6/17-6/21)
• Copenhagen (6/21-6/24)
• Stockholm (6/24-6/28)

We split up booking the hostels we stayed at. In hindsight, it might have been better to have one account book all of them instead so they are all in one place. We still got by with the way we did it. The list of hostels we stayed at is here: Hostels.

The film photos I took from the trip are located here: Europe 2022 Film

Munich, Germany (6/9-6/12)

The first stop we made was in Munich. Neither of us had been to mainland Europe before so we weren’t really sure what to expect.

When we first arrived in Munich, we didn’t know how to get our cell service working (make sure to turn on data roaming if just going through regular cell phone provider). We managed to figure out the directions to the hostel from the airport, only problem was we couldn’t use google translate to help us buy a ticket. Later on we were able to buy a ticket that allowed us to ride any transit in Germany for a pretty cheap price, it was a promotion because oil was expensive at the time.

We got to the hostel ok and checked in. After that we went out to the Marienplatz to start exploring. Our first meal was weisswurst and pretzels, the weisswurst was not good. We still hadn’t figured out the phone issue yet and I was worried the trip was getting off to a bad start. We figured out the phone issue shortly after that.

The first full day we were there we went out to the BMW museum. The museum had so many cool BMWs in it along with history on the company. Nearby was the Olympic park that hosted the 1972 summer Olympics. They had built a lot of cool venues to host the Olympics there.

We met some cool people while in Munich. The main dude we hung out was this Bloke named Adam. We went to a beer hall with him and out to the club later. The few bars/clubs we stopped at in Munich were super cool. Adam single-handedly changed Nick and I’s opinion on British people.

Frankfurt, Germany (6/12-6/13)

The next stop we made was in Frankfurt…

We got to the city alright. The Frankfurt hauptbahnhof is not in a great part of town. We rode a street car about 5 blocks away to the hostel we were supposed to stay at. We found a super tatted up tough looking Australian dude who was also supposed to be staying in the same one. We couldn’t figure out how to get into the hostel, I think we were supposed to get buzzed in. We decided then to try to find a different one since the first felt so sketchy.

The second hostel we got to was more welcoming, but in an equally as sketchy feeling part of town. There were a bunch of grown men who should be employed just loitering in the area all day, something really didn’t feel right. We decided we were going to just leave the next day and go to Brussels a day early.

In conclusion, maybe we just didn’t give the city a fair chance, but I don’t really care to go back there. If I did, I would make sure wherever I stay is a much nicer part of town. We were on a budget for this trip so couldn’t take that luxury. There were only a few hostel options there and the highest rated one was at the Frankfurt airport (not near the city center).

Brussels, Belgium (6/13-6/17)

We caught a super early train out of Frankfurt to get to our next stop, Brussels. We were very happy to be out of Frankfurt.

The main hostel we were going to stay at couldn’t add a night for us to the start of our stay so we did one night at a different one. The first hostel we stayed at was pretty nice and only had one other person in it when we were there. We dropped stuff off at the other hostel the next morning then explored the city.

Brussels has a really cool vibe to it. It is the de facto capital of the EU, it is a big melting pot of a lot of cultures, languages, and people. The transit system was very intuitive to use.

The first full day we explored the main part of town. Nick and I also got tattoos from an artist in Brussels. Nick found him on Instagram and we each got something small. It was the first tattoo I got. The artist was super cool, he gave us a few recommendations of places to go in the city as well.

The next day we went to the Atomium sculpture then over to the National Basilica of the Sacred Heart. The view of the top was spectacular. The tattoo artist told us not to go up inside the Atomium and instead go up in the church and it did not disappoint.

The following day we took a train to the city of Bruges. It is known as the Venice of Belgium. The town is full of canals, some cool churches, and a nice town square. There is a church there that allegedly has a cloth soaked with the blood of Christ. We did a boat tour of the city that rode through the canals and pointed out many of the medieval features of the city.

We met a bunch of Australians in the hostel and did a bar crawl with them. One of them found a bar crawl list online and we followed that. There were a lot of iconic bars/taverns to stop in throughout the city.

I was very pleasantly surprised by Brussels. I would definitely like to go there again. The combination of nice hostel, great company, and quality sites made it one of the best stops on the trip.

Amsterdam, Netherlands (6/17-6/21)

The next stop on the trip was Amsterdam.

We stayed in an area called Sloterdijk, which was on the north western side of Amsterdam. It was where the cheapest hostel was, but it was a complete pain to get to and from when going to the main part of the city. Would definitely recommend staying closer to the center.

Some of our favorite stops were the botanical garden, Vondelpark, and Van Gogh museum. The Van Gogh museum requires reservations during the peak season so be sure to book in advance.

Another must-do in Amsterdam is taking a a boat tour through the canals, they aren’t too expensive and you get to see a lot of the town.

The food we got in Amsterdam wasn’t anything to rave about. It was just okay. We did eat at a fast food vending machine once. The food was surprisingly good and cheap, it was a nice quick meal before taking the train to the center.

Copenhagen, Denmark (6/21-6/24)

The next stop we made was in Copenhagen. We took a super long train ride from Amsterdam to get there.

Copenhagen was a fantastic stop on the trip. The city had lots to do and was very vibrant. I wish we stayed an extra day or two there. I wish I had more energy when we were there as well. I had gotten some gnarly blisters from the shoes I brought so I wasn’t trying to walk as much as we should’ve.

We stayed at a great hostel when we were there. We asked for some food recommendations from the workers and they sent us to an American style BBQ place. The food was actually pretty good but we thought it was funny they sent the obvious Americans to there.

One place we were looking forward to seeing in Copenhagen was the area called Christiania. It is an anarchist commune that started in the early 1970s. It was known for its open drug trade. There are people selling on the streets and occasionally cops come through and they scramble. Reading about it now in 2025, it looks like the main “Pusher Street” got closed down along with the drug trade due to violence between rival gangs of sellers. There was also a cool trading store that had miscellaneous materials that people use to build around the commune. It was pretty interesting.

The biggest tourist stop in Copenhagen is the Nyhavn waterfront/canal. It has all the picturesque painted building fronts. It was here that Nick and I ran into someone we knew from high school.

There were a few other parks that we stopped at in Copenhagen. They were super well kept and pleasant to walk through. We also wished we rode bikes around Copenhagen, it is such a bike friendly city.

There were two stories from the hostel we stayed at. There was another American that had started talking to us at the hostel bar. We said a few words but didn’t really care to talk to him. I had grabbed a pitcher of beer to split with Nick. The dude ends up following us after we had sat down and just sat next to us, not really getting the hint. The dude was a complete goober from Montana who was very awkward. Nick left after the beer saying he was going to the bathroom but really had gone to the other bar downstairs, I had to drink the rest of the pitcher to stop talking to the goober and leave. The second story was chatting with this Danish dude who was in his forties who was going through a divorce. He kept talking about U.S. politics (as people love to do in Europe, always unprovoked), and how he was depressed about the divorce. He had said “this country is supposed to be a happy country but all I feel is sadness.” For some reason this stuck with Nick and I. It was just such a different perspective to hear from a local when traveling like that.

Another regret we had was not eating at some of the nice restaurants in Copenhagen. At the time we were fresh college grads who didn’t have a lot of money so it makes sense but there are some really nice looking restaurants there that would have been good to try.

On our way out of the city to the airport, we had a little hiccup riding the subway. We had each purchased a pass to ride the rail (roughly 20 euros each was the minimum to load onto the card), but failed to tap it to the blue circle thing before getting on. We didn’t see any signs about it, we didn’t know how it worked. The subway attendant got pissed at us saying he was going to ticket us for not validating the tickets. Even when trying to do the right thing and buy it they still got mad because we didn’t see how to properly use it. Luckily the dude didn’t come back before we had to get off (he told us to get off and validate it and get back on, but we would’ve been late for the flight). Overall cops in Copenhagen were kinda mean.

Stockholm, Sweden (6/24-6/28)

Our last stop on the trip was to Stockholm. We took a flight from Copenhagen to get there.

At this point in the trip we were pretty exhausted and ready to get back to the U.S.. We happened to visit Stockholm when it was their Midsummer celebration. While it seems like that would be a good time to visit, it really meant most people were out in the countryside to celebrate and be outdoors. A lot of restaurants, bars, etc were closed the weekend we were there.

To make matters worse, the room we had in the hostel turned into a snoring contest each night between the other occupants of the room. We ended up watching a bunch of the NHL playoffs that were happening at the time when we were there. Another annoyance was that because of midsummer, bars were closed along with the government stores that sell alcohol, we ended up trying to get drunk on 2% beers (it didn’t work).

Leaving Sweden was a bit of a pain. We had an 8am flight and saw online that it was recommended to get to the airport 4 hours early due to staffing shortages. We arrived at the airport at about 4am and proceeded to wait in various lines until almost 9am when we boarded. There was a line to get our boarding passes (same as the line to check bags even though we had carry-ons), line for security, line for customs, line to get into the boarding area, then finally the line to board the plane. It was ridiculous – I think the way Europeans do airports is pretty stupid.

The best flight we could get home from Stockholm was to LAX. We were hoping to take the train back to SD after the flight (looking back that is forsure not the best option due to how far the train station is from LAX). Based on how delayed our flight took off, we were expected to miss the train we had so we ended up having to rent a car and drive home to SD. Overall, getting back was a whole fiasco.

The end of the trip was not as ideal as hoped, being exhausted from traveling, a tough travel day back to home, but you can’t let that takeaway from how great of a trip it was overall. It was both mine and Nick’s first time traveling to mainland Europe. It came at a major turning point in our lives – going from college into the workforce. We were able to see some great destinations for relatively cheap. Having someone to travel with helps out with keeping sanity, staying safe, and overall really adds to the experience. I’ll never forget the memories we made on the trip.

Hostels

• Munich, Germany: Wombat’s City Hostel Munich
  • This was the first hostel either of us had stayed at. It set the bar super high, great bar area, decent rooms/bathrooms, central location. Highly recommend.
• Frankfurt, Germany: Five Elements Hostel Frankfurt
  • Not much of a fan of Frankfurt in general. The hostel we stayed at was the closest one to the city center – but that turned out to be a bad thing. All of the other options we thought were too far from things to do. I wouldn’t recommend staying at a hostel in Frankfurt, its probably better to get an airbnb or hotel.
• Brussels, Belgium: MEININGER Bruxelles City Center
  • This was the main hostel we stayed at. The location was great, rooms were fine (we stayed in an 8 person room), had a good bar to meet people at with an outdoor area.
  • We also stayed at Generation Europe Youth Hostel for a night after making our escape from Frankfurt. This one was also pretty decent, just slightly further from the city center.
• Amsterdam, Netherlands: MEININGER Amsterdam City West
  • I would not recommend this hostel. The hostel itself was ok, the location was absolutely awful. It was half the price of other hostels in Amsterdam – and for good reason. Spend the extra money to stay closer to the city center.
• Copenhagen, Denmark: Next House Copenhagen
  • The next house was probably the best hostel we stayed at. It was a super new building, had two bars inside, fairly private beds within the shared rooms, good location, and overall a good vibe. Would definitely recommend.
• Stockholm, Sweden: City Backpackers Hostel
  • This hostel was very mid. The bathrooms were all shared, we had an 8 person room (full of people snoring), it was also kind of underground so there was no window to air it out. There was also no bar at all so that really sucked.